Don't Say a Word
by Punch A Fish In The Face
Summary: A big storm is coming, that will destroy any apples attached to the trees at Sweet Apple. This storm inconveniently makes Applejack sick. So, Big Mac requests help from his friends. Braeburn and 3 OCs come to help the Apple family. Unfortunately, one of the OCs that Big Mac hires will rape a member of the Mane Six. Rated T for dark and sad themes. There will be romance also.


A/N  
Applejack gets sick. It's from a really bad slow-moving storm that occasionally afflicts ponies with a disease similar to Pleurisy or Bronchitis. It also makes crops such as apples asplode, so with AJ sick, that leaves twice the work for Big Mac. However, he messages friends of his from school and other places, as well as some family members, to come help.  
But, that's just the setup for the real story. One of the fillies (not any of the apple family) gets raped by one of the colts (not any of the apple family, either) during the happenings on the farm. It's not detailed, though, but the after-effects are traumatizing to the pony it happens to. But, not to fear, he gets what's coming to him.  
End A/N

**/x/ POV of Narrator /x/**

The storm is coming.

It comes once every hundred years. It just so happens that this year is the time when it comes next. It's a slow storm, so you could see it on the horizon a month in advance, or so the legends say. The legends also say that the storm is only a few hundred feet wide from front to back, but it stretches on for tens if not hundreds of miles in either direction.

This storm devastates all crops. Not just inconveniencing the growing of the plants, but destroyed utterly and completely. In every account written as of today, they just suddenly died. They didn't just wither away, though, but it seems they literally exploded from the inside out. It is an unexplainable phenomenon. Then again, there are lots of unexplained phenomena in Equestria.

There are also rare cases where the storm has affected ponies. Muscles become weakened, the lungs take in less air with every breath, and it causes high fevers. Manual labor becomes impossible through intense chest pains caused by movement.

But the Apple family wasn't worried about some stories of getting sick today. They were more worried about the apple trees and the fruits they bear; when the storm comes, all apples still on the trees will be completely destroyed, unusable, and unsellable. Applejack and Big Macintosh were currently out in the orchard, harvesting apples quickly. The storm is only a month away.

It sat there on the horizon- a quiet yet menacing line of black. It was unsettling to see it, as it caused subconscious feelings of dread. The citizens of Ponyville felt worse because they knew they'd have to deal with it for the next two months, as it would need to pass the horizon on the other side before fading away entirely, not to be seen for another hundred years. Nobody dared name it- they only referred to it as 'The Storm'. That's kind of a waste, in my humble opinion. But, I'm just telling the story here…

The Storm was more than a minor annoyance to Granny Smith. Way back when she was a little filly, her Granny had told her stories of the past storm, so she'd heard firsthand how serious this really was. However, in her old age, she couldn't buck apples as effectively as AJ or Big Mac could. So, it fell upon them to harvest in time for the storm to finally roll in.

Applejack was feeling particular worn out today. It was strange, but when the storm appeared, there'd been a sudden onset of fatigue upon waking up. However, she thought nothing of it when she'd gotten up to work, attributing it to the burden of knowing that if they weren't fast enough, they'd lose a lot of apples, perhaps too much to keep the business from going under in Ponyville. She was beginning to doubt that theory, though, when she woke up in her bed later that morning.

Confused and disoriented, AJ tried to remember what had happened. She kicked one of the trees, and the apples had fallen. Her muscle had a spasm, so she stood still for a second waiting for it to stop. But it didn't… Then… she couldn't breathe. Big Mac asked if she was okay, then she fell to the ground, and that's the last thing she remembered. Now, she's here in her bedroom. Applejack started to hear voices around her. She turned her head around on the pillow and blinked a few times.

'Guys, she's moving!' Everyone stopped talking and focused their eyes on the orange earth pony.

"Hey, Applejack?" It was Apple Bloom, hooves up on the side of her bed. "Are you all right, sis?"

She tried to comfort her, to reach a hoof out and pat her younger sister's head to tell her 'I'm fine', but when she reached out, her spine flared up. Intense, burning pain made her back feel like it was on fire, and a dull, aching pain spiked in the shoulders. All along the leg, it felt like electricity running through the tendons. Applejack cried out in pain, withdrawing it. Suddenly, everyone started talking, with various instances of 'Are you okay!' and 'What happened?'

After a few moments, the pain became bearable again, then faded away entirely. She was shuddering, and her forelegs were curled up to her chest. Applejack got control of her breathing again, and said "I musta pulled somethin'… It's weird, it just started hurtin' like crazy, but, I'll get right back outta here when it's over with…"

She noticed that everypony was just staring at her questioningly. Then, she noticed that everypony was there… Around the bed she could see Apple Bloom, who was closest on the left, then Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Spike, and Fluttershy, who was closest on the right. Rainbow Dash was nowhere in sight, but why was everyone else there?

'Applejack…' Twilight started to say. 'Do you know how long you were asleep for?'

"I dunno, Twi'. An hour? I was barely even out-"

'Three and a half days.'

Applejack's eyes twitched. She sighed and said "Aw, that's just perfect. We've lost a lot of progress, I gotta get out there and-"

Big Mac put his hoof gently on her shoulder. 'You don't gotta worry about that, sis. When you didn't wake up the day after, I wrote to some friends across Equestria. Braeburn's here, and my friend Mist from school got here yesterday, n' they're workin' the fields right now.' He moved his hoof. 'More are comin' soon; you just stay here and rest. We'll take care of the apples while you get better.'

'Don't say too much, it's outta character…' Apple Bloom whispered. He looked down and asked if she said something, but she said 'Nope, not a word.'

'And we'll be helping, too.' Fluttershy reassured her.

'Yeah!' Pinkie exclaimed. 'We'll help take care of the apples, no problem!'

Rarity said 'No cosmetic damage is too large price to pay to help a friend.'

"Aww, well thanks, guys! At least I don't have to feel bad about not getting' my share done. I still wish I didn't have to stay in bed. How long was it, again?"

Suddenly, the door opened. On the other side was Rainbow Dash, who was carrying a thermos in one hand and a technological doo-dad in the other. Her wings were droopy and she was a bit out of breath.

'Twilight, Fluttershy,' she said. 'Here's your scanner, and the tea you wanted.' She took notice of Applejack. 'I see you're finally awake, sleepyhead.'

"Rainbow Dash! I was wonderin' where you were. What're you holdin'?"

'Well, I was getting your medicine from Zecora's in the middle of Everfree Forest. She needed this tech-y thing, and told me to tell Zecora the readings on it. Twilight did a test on you with it while you were asleep, and she saw that you had a bunch of… Radio something. Sciencey stuff.'

Twilight looked annoyed at her use of the word sciencey. 'I said radiation, from the storm. Which I said that _I_ would explain to her so she didn't get scared. _And sciencey isn't a word!_'

"Huh?" Applejack became interested in this conversation at the word radiation, which she associated with science, and more so when Twilight mentioned her getting scared. Being afraid of science means only one thing- danger. "What's wrong? Twilight, what's that hunk o' metal say? What's this radiation? What's wrong with me!"

Rainbow winced, and Twilight sighed. She turned to everyone in the room except Fluttershy. 'I have to tell her the news. Can you guys just leave the room for a few minutes?'

Everypony exchanged glances with each other, and filed out the door. Rainbow was the last to leave, and she looked over her shoulder as she left. Applejack noticed she was biting her lip, and was looking at her almost apologetically. Then the door shut.

"Twilight, what tests were ya doin'? What's radiation and what's the storm got to do with it? Why do I gotta drink tea, and-"

'Applejack.' She stopped her tirade of questions. 'Look, I didn't want to freak you out. But, I guess Rainbow didn't think you had just woken up and I didn't have the time to explain to you. Anyways, here goes. You'll be in bed for the next two months, until the storm is gone, as far as I can tell.'

"WHAT! TWO MONTHS!"

'I'm sorry, Applejack. It looks like the storm's hit you.'

"With what! What's wrong with the storm? What's wrong with me?"

'I ran a scan on your body to see if anything was wrong with you that wasn't biological.' At her glance, Twilight rephrased. 'Biological is stuff like germs, blood diseases, food poisoning, stuff like that. Anyways, I found some electromagnetic radiation in your muscles.'

"Come again?"

'Something like electric energy was building up in your muscles. I got curious about it, and scanned the storm. It was the same energy. So, I hypothesized that the storm is giving off this wave of electromagnetism that's sticking in your muscles. That hypothesis would be wrong if you weren't displaying physical symptoms beforehand. Your brother had told me that you had bags under your eyes the morning of the incident- you still do, actually.'

Applejack's forelegs were still folded inwards from the incident a few minutes ago, and she felt her eye as Twilight continued.

'Fatigue was exhibited in all documents pertaining to the sicknesses displayed in victims of a mysterious illness that occurred every year that The Storm hit Equestria. Also on the list of symptoms for everypony it happened to was passing out, a really common one. So, I think that the Storm is incapacitating you. And just a few minutes ago, when you reached out towards Apple Bloom, let me guess: your spine felt like it was on fire?'

Applejack was caught off-guard by this question. "Yes?"

'Your shoulder got all achy?'

"…yes."

'And it felt like your spine was' they simultaneously said 'getting shocked!'

"What's that mean? What else is gonna happen to me?"

'Well, if you don't drink this tea Zecora made, then I'm more than ninety percent sure that you won't get any of the symptoms. You'll probably still be pained if you stretch out too far, but the tea's also got some pain-reducing ingredients, so you should be able to at least move a little bit without it hurting like crazy. Fluttershy.'

'Yes, Twilight?'

'I want you to give her some of that tea every hour on the hour.'

"Twilight."

She didn't hear her. 'Even if she's asleep, I want you to wake her up in the gentle and quiet way you do when you're treating your animals.'

"Twiiiiiliiiiight…"

Again, she didn't hear. 'I want you to be doing this every night, because the bed rest is really important, because it will reduce the pain.'

"Twilight Spaaaaarkleeeee…"

She didn't hear again. This was getting ridiculous. 'Do you think you can do this, Fluttershy?'

'Well, between this and my animals, I don't think I can help with the apples, or fly to the forest to get Zecora's-'

"TWILIGHT!" That got their attention. Applejack immediately became aware of the pain in her lungs. "…ow…"

'Applejack, here. Drink this tea, and you won't feel the other effects of the Storm's sickness.' Fluttershy held out the tea.

"All… right… Can you… just tell me… what else could… happen?" She managed to say, between breaths. Fluttershy then carefully positioned the tea over Applejack's mouth so she could pour it in without AJ having to lean forward. She opened her mouth, and Fluttershy poured in a little bit.

'Well, you'll have shortness of breath caused by pain if you talk too loudly.'

Applejack swallowed the tea. It tasted, somewhat ironically, of apple cider. "I just found _that_ out the hard way." She drank more tea.

'You'd also have really bad coughing, which would disturb the lungs, too. Sometimes, you might even cough up blood.'

"That don't sound too pleasant."

'I should think not,' Twilight said. 'You'd also develop a high fever, lose a lot of weight-'

"Why?"

'I don't really know. You also might get chills, sore throat, swelling in the joints, dysentery, and ventrick- er, your heart would beat really fast, making your chest hurt even more because of the muscular contraction.'

"But that won't happen if I drink this, right?" All the symptoms were making Applejack feel nervous.

'I'm sure of it. Rainbow Dash read off the list of symptoms from the scanner, and Zecora put in ingredients that would counteract the other side effects. So, there's more than an eighty percent chance that you won't get them.'

"Eighty? Didn't it used to be ninety? Ah, never mind." She drank some more- that was the last of it. "What tastes like apples?"

'Huh? Apples? I don't know of any herbs or spices that taste like apple… I don't know.'

"Well, it tastes pretty good, anyways. Thanks, Fluttershy."

'Oh, you're welcome, Applejack. I've poured medicine before, this doesn't seem any different.'

"You're sayin' I have to drink that every hour tonight, Twilight?"

'Yeah, you do,' she answered, an apologetic tone in her voice. 'But, would you rather she woke you up, or that flare in your back you felt earlier?'

"Neither." Twilight and Fluttershy laughed a little bit, until they saw the look on Applejack's face. "I wasn't kidding."

**/x/x/x/**

Rarity had to go home, because she had orders to fill out. Pinkie Pie forgot that she was supposed to be working at Sugar cube Corner that night, so she had to leave as soon as possible as well. Fluttershy asked Twilight to check on her animals, so she had to leave as well. The three of them said their 'goodbye's and their 'good luck's to Applejack before heading to the places they needed to be.

Fluttershy put Apple Bloom to bed, normally Applejack's job, after she checked in on her big sister. She hopefully asked Fluttershy if caring for the sick would be her special talent. Fluttershy told Apple Bloom that she could find out tomorrow by giving Applejack her tea when she needed it. This satisfied Apple Bloom, and she went to sleep.

Fluttershy then put Granny Smith to bed, at her request. She glanced uneasily at Applejack, who shrugged at the odd request. When she left, Rainbow Dash came into the room. She looked back at Fluttershy saying 'Let's get you to bed, then…' After hearing that, she looked at Applejack with a confused look on her face. Again, she just shrugged.

"Don't ask me."

'Is she always like this?'

"Dash, Fluttershy's always helpin' animals, and she's always helpin' ponies. It's just her nature-"

'I meant Granny Smith.'

(beat)

"Right… that would make more sense…"

A silence filled the room that just bordered on being awkward.

'Sooo… Feelin' better? How was the tea?'

"Right, you were the one who got it. Well, it's workin'. None of the symptoms Twilight said are happenin' right now. And I've been testin' my movement range, so I can move at least a little without it hurtin'. Oh, it tasted pretty good, too."

'Oh, did it!' she got excited. 'I brought some apples with me to Zecora's. Twilight wanted me to go to her to get you that tea, and I remembered this one time I was with you, and I was buying something to drink in a shop; I'd ordered an iced tea, and you said you didn't care for tea that much. Anyways, I remembered you'd said that, so I took a few apples so Zecora could put them in for you.'

"Aw, well thanks! I don't even remember that conversation, but you're right. I don't fancy tea that much. I'm more of a cider girl, myself."

'Well, I figured that since you'll be drinking it for a while, you should like the taste of it. Because, I don't really like medicine, and not a lot of other ponies do, either. So…'

"Well, that was mighty thoughtful of you, Rainbow Dash."

She waved her hoof. 'Whatever. Anypony would do it.'

Fluttershy opened the door.

'Well, I just wanted to see what you thought of the tea. I'll be heading back out now. Big Mac and Mist put me on basket duty, so I gotta go carry stuff to the barn. I'll see ya later, Applejack! Bye, Fluttershy.'

"See ya too, Dash!"

'Goodbye, Rainbow.' Fluttershy shut the door behind her. 'Why did Granny Smith…?'

"I know as much as you do, Fluttershy." Applejack lay down on the pillow. "Y'know, for sleepin' three days straight, I'm sure feelin' tired."

'Well, Twilight did ask Rainbow to tell Zecora to put in stuff that would put you to sleep. You know, since you'll be getting up every hour to drink it.'

Applejack groaned. "Don't remind me."

'Well, if you're tired, do you want me to turn the lamp off?'

"Yes please. I'd do it myself, but, y'know, it's… pretty far."

Fluttershy reached out to turn it off. But, she stopped, and then pushed it closer towards Applejack instead. It was now much closer, and she reached for it. It was close enough that she didn't have to stretch very far, so she managed to shut it off by herself.

"Thanks." Applejack said to the darkness.

'You're welcome. Good night.'

"G'night, Fluttershy." She turned in the bed a little bit, and tried to go to sleep.

Fluttershy went downstairs and looked at the clock: she had forty minutes left until the next tea break. That would be enough time to get some air outside.

**/x/x/x/**

Rainbow Dash was flying back and forth between the baskets of apples and the barn. During the night, it was dark enough on the horizon that you'd forget a huge storm was coming in, because the moonlight only reflected down onto the ground.

Stormy Mist was used to the moonlight. Mist was a Pegasus with charcoal-colored fur and a midnight blue mane, and had lighter blue eyes. He worked at the weather plant in Manehattan, and moved clouds during the night. The cutie mark on his flank consisted of three parts: one was the crescent moon, the second was the five-pointed star in the middle of the moon, and third was the cloud covering up the bottom part of the moon.

He wasn't nearly as strong as Big Mac is now. He worked all night placing clouds, which was an exercise more on the wings than anything else, because clouds really aren't that heavy. During the morning and afternoon was the time he took to sleep. He took part of the evenings to work out, though, so he was almost as strong as Applejack is now. But just almost, as Big Mac liked to point out when they talked.

Mist had moved from Ponyville soon after school went out, because his grandfather had broken his leg. He moved in with his grandfather and got a job to help support them, because his grandfather didn't have a lot of money saved up. Most of the money he'd had went into his wife's funeral a few years prior. His grandpa was an earth pony, and there aren't a lot of jobs for disabled earth ponies who have no experience in business, law, or medicine.

He and Big Mac were close friends throughout high school, and they have been in the years since then. Mist had known Applejack when she was younger. However, he'd never met Apple Bloom before. He and Big Mac had been planning for a long time to have Mist come over, but there'd never been a way. Now, however, Mist could take work off due to it being a financial emergency for Sweet Apple.

When he finally arrived at Sweet Apple, the first person he'd met was Rainbow Dash. She was flying by, and she slowed down when she realized it was one of the people Big Mac had asked to come over, as he'd described them to everypony when Applejack was asleep. Rainbow landed, and they introduced themselves. Dash welcomed Mist to Ponyville, but explained to him that she couldn't talk at the moment because she had to get Applejack's medicine. But, she told Mist that Big Mac was out in the orchard, and he took off in the direction she'd pointed.

There, he briefly caught up with Big Mac, and he was introduced to Braeburn, his cousin. After that, he went right to work.

Rainbow Dash was going to show him around Ponyville the next day, or she was going to ask him if he wanted to. She was going to be moving clouds anyways, and she figured he could give her a few pointers during it. Not that she needed any help, but it was good to hear from places outside of Ponyville every once in a while.

Fluttershy watched Big Mac, Rainbow Dash, Braeburn, and Stormy Mist working from the house until it was time to wake her up for more tea.

A/N  
I wanted to do more for this chapter, but it's late, and I don't want to make any mistakes from overtiredness. So, here's the first chapter. It's mostly just exposition, and the introduction of one of my OCs. The next chapter will be exposition, too, but it'll also start off the main plot of the story.  
I've got another MLP story on my page. It's a Cupcakes Sequel-type story, but it follows the Rocket to Insanity timeline where Cupcakes was just a dream. However, I make the ending of Rocket- where Rainbow Dash kills Pinkie Pie- just another dream, and it makes Rainbow decide to tell Princess Celestia about it. The plot of it is that an evil pony implanted the dreams into Rainbow's head, and also forcibly possessed Big Mac to make the Sweet Apple Massacre story reality, in a plan to eventually kill the Elements of Harmony, in order to resurrect Night Mare Moon. But at the end, the Cutie Mark Crusaders get resurrected with no memory of Big Mac's attack, the main antagonist is forced to clear Big Mac's name, and Rainbow gets help for the nightmares. I'd just like to know how my forays into the Brony Fandom Community have gone, so any constructive criticism would be nice.  
I hope you're interested in both stories I've written. I'm sure interested in writing them.  
End A/N


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